THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:In the wake of the ongoing probe into the alleged corruption in Consumerfed, the government has suspended the administrative board of the federation. The Cooperative Registrar, in its order, stated the continuation of the present board, which was allegedly involved in corruption and other irregularities, would adversely affect the probe and would not be in the interest of Consumerfed.
As such, the present board has been suspended till the completion of the ongoing probe by the Joint registrar. The Joint Registrar of Cooperative, Ernakulam, has now been entrusted with the administration, the order states. The cooperative registrar said the probe would be completed at the earliest. The recent development assumes significance at a time when factional feud has been triggered in the Congress with KPCC president V M Sudheeran demanding removal of Consumerfed chief Joy Thomas, who is said to be loyal to Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala.
The issues at Consumerfed came to the fore after Tomin J Thachankary had a forceful exit after he brought to light alleged corruption, when he was its managing director.
Apart from this, a committee headed by KPCC general secretary Satheesan Pacheni had found corruption to the tune of Rs 50 crore in Consumerfed, and allegedly accused board president Joy Thomas and former managing director of this. However, the administrative council, headed by president Joy Thomas, rejected the report, alleging that it was a biased one. This had sparked a division in the Congress between the ‘I’ and ‘A’ groups.
Brave Decision: Chennithala
Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said the Co-operative Department had taken a brave decision to suspend the administrative board. Maintaining that the government would go forward without compromise on corruption, he said: “A probe by the Vigilance is on into the alleged corruption charges.”